Sturgill Simpson Addresses Early Comparisons to Waylon Jennings, Admits “People Think I Was Into Him, but I Wasn’t”

When Sturgill Simpson released his debut album, High Top Mountain in 2013, many listeners called it an Outlaw Country masterpiece. More than that, the album caused fans and critics alike to put the Kentucky native into the Outlaw Country box, whether he wanted it or not. Many even claimed that Simpson sounded like the second coming of Waylon Jennings.

It’s hard to listen to High Top Mountain and not hear where the comparison comes from. His voice and vocal delivery are similar to Jennings’. At the same time, the sonic landscape of the album is a throwback to mid-‘70s Outlaw Country. However, as Simpson recently explained, this wasn’t his intention going in.

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Recently, Simpson sat down with Qubuz to talk about his new album Passage Du Desir and his career. During the conversation, he reflected on the comparison to Jennings.

Sturgill Simpson on Being Compared to Waylon Jennings

The publication pointed out that he sounded like Waylon Jennings in his early recordings and asked where his fascination with his sound came from. Sturgill Simpson’s answer was surprising. “Honestly, I never listened to much of Waylon until I met his son,” he revealed. “We have a similar baritone. People think I was into him, but I wasn’t,” he added.

Then, he revealed why he sounded so much like Jennings on his first album. “Honestly, the first record I made, I sounded like Waylon because I think the producer was trying to make me sound like Waylon,” Simpson revealed. “So a lot of the songs were put in keys where my voice sits in that register as much as possible,” he added. “I feel like I’ve been running from that record ever since.”

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Simpson never released another album that sounded like the Dave Cobb-produced High Top Mountain. His sophomore release, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, also produced by Cobb, came close. However, it contained more experimental elements. After that, Simpson started producing his albums. A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, Sound & Fury, and The Ballad of Dood & Juanita were all very different albums. He shared production duties with David “Fergie” Ferguson on his latest album Passage Du Desir and it too stands out sonically from his previous releases.

Featured Image by Sterling Munksgard